New council coalition shaking it up in Bogota

BOGOTA — Having promised to shake up Borough Hall under the banner of "reform," an unlikely coalition of two Democrats — who've feuded openly with their colleagues — and two newly elected Republicans have wasted little time letting everyone know who's in charge.

After elevating Councilman Jorge Nuñez to council president at the Jan. 4 reorganization meeting, the new majority attempted to ram through their choices to replace the borough attorney, prosecutor, engineer, auditor and other officials, backing down only when they were warned they would be violating the state's open meeting law.

Many in the audience reacted with gasps at Nuñez's faction flexing its muscle so quickly. He and his council ally, Evaristo Burdiez Jr., had promised to be better custodians of the taxpayers' money, but also told residents they'd bring more transparency and end cronyism.

"They are doing what they said they didn't want done," said Mayor Antero "Tito" Jackson.

Even in North Jersey, where small-town politics can often be described as cutthroat, Bogota has long had a reputation for being melodramatic. In 2005, when Republican Steve Lonegan was mayor, a documentary titled "Anytown USA" chronicled the animosity between Republicans and Democrats and the cringe-worthy aspects of local politics.

Nuñez, who has ties to numerous Hispanic political groups and is serving a second term on the council, disagrees that he, Burdiez and the two Republican council members, Chris Kelemen and John Mitchell, misled voters. He blames Jackson for being unwilling to cede power and smooth the transition.

"Mr. Jackson has been in lockstep with the old guard that sought to maintain the status quo," Nuñez said in an email to The Record. "Those days are now behind us, but somehow Mr. Jackson is having a difficult time accepting that fact."

The shift in power began with the November election, when Democrats Nuñez and Burdiez broke ranks with their party and threw their support behind the Republican challengers. The fallout from the surprise ouster of two Democratic incumbents was immediate: a new majority headed by Nuñez, followed by the resignation of his nemesis on the council, Mayor Patrick McHale.

McHale exited with a warning that there was a "cancer on the council," an apparent reference to Nuñez.

Jackson, as council president, ascended to mayor, and relations between him and the other two Democrats in the minority and Nuñez and Burdiez have been as icy as ever.

Twice since their failed attempt on Jan. 4, Nuñez and his allies have tried to fast-track the replacement of the professionals who run the borough's day-to-day business. When Jackson forced a public discussion of the replacements' qualifications on Jan. 16, it led to a testy exchange between Councilwoman Lisa Kohles and Burdiez.

"What do you like about the engineer?" Kohles asked Burdiez about the potential replacement firm, Costa Engineering Corp.

"I like the sound of the name," he replied sharply, bringing gasps and groans from the audience.

Even those supportive of the new majority say the behavior is not helping the town shed an image of dysfunction that council members were elected to change.

"I figured it's got to be better than what we have," said former two-term Councilman George Shalhoub, who supports the majority's calls for reform. "We have to understand the community is changing. And these are the people who have new ideas."

But, he added, "It could have been done in a more gentlemanly fashion. It doesn't have to be acrimonious."

Many who've grown up in Bogota and are lifelong residents have known nothing but infighting among their local politicians, even when one party is solidly in control. During the Lonegan era, the borough came to be defined by his combative style, as depicted in the documentary, and unwillingness to work with Democrats.

The borough of 8,200 residents emerged from that by uniting around an anti-Lonegan Democratic slate of candidates in the mid-2000s. Although short-lived, McHale and Jackson, and later Nuñez and Burdiez, seemed all to be working toward the same ends.

In a 2011 essay distributed to members of the council, Nuñez declared: "A long overdue farewell is in order for the old political agenda that included cronyism, nepotism, patronage jobs, and at best, the mediocracy that results from incompetence and divisiveness. Indifference and disrespect to the real needs of our residents will no longer be tolerated."

By 2012, Nuñez was openly sparring with McHale and others on the council, the final break coming over what he viewed as an overly generous deal the council made giving a developer tax breaks in exchange for building apartments on a long-vacant lot.

Having drifted away from his fellow Democrats, Nuñez needed new partners to take the borough in a different direction. In order to get there, though, he would need to be in the majority, regardless of party affiliation.